myCOPD: Rescue Study
Randomised controlled study (RCT)
A randomised controlled feasibility trial of an E-health platform supported care vs usual care after exacerbation of COPD.
Exacerbations of COPD are one of the commonest causes of admission to hospital in the UK. Re-admission is also a significant problem and is currently the fifth most common cause of hospitalisation. Self-management interventions have shown benefits in improving health related quality of life and reducing hospital admissions. We explored the potential for an online self-management system to improve outcomes for COPD patients recently admitted to hospital with an exacerbation.
We conducted a feasibility randomised controlled trial of the digital health platform ‘myCOPD’. 41 Patients were recruited following an admission to hospital with an acute exacerbation of COPD. Patients gave written informed consent and were randomised to either receive usual care (n=21) (including written self-management plan) or the myCOPD app (n=20) for 3 months.
Results showed exacerbations were less frequent in the digital arm compared to usual care over 3 m; 18 vs 34, p=0.047 for mean difference. Hospital readmissions were lower in the digital intervention arm than in usual care 4 vs 13. Patients’ inhaler technique (total critical error count) improved in the digital intervention arm (101 improving to 20 errors) compared to usual care (100 and 72) p=0.008. As did CAT scores, with a differential improvement of −4.8 (CI −8.8 to −0.7) p=0.021 in favour of digitally enhanced care. No differences were seen between treatment arms for HAD, MRC, SGRQ or PAM scores.
This shows that use of the digital self- management platform myCOPD, has been shown to significantly improve exacerbation rates, lower re-admission numbers, improve symptom control and reduce the number of critical errors in inhaler technique compared to usual written self-management.
More Case Studies
myCOPD: Southend Hybrid PR Model
Southend CCG PR team remapped their patient pathway to open up a hybrid option for their PR patients.
myCOPD: West Lothian
West Lothian Health Board in Scotland undertook a survey of patients who had been given myCOPD between Dec 2017 and July 2018.
myCOPD: Trooper Study
Online versus face-to-face pulmonary rehabilitation for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: randomised controlled trial.
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